A Polaroid instant camera for the digital age

— -- Nothing is quite like a classic Polaroid instant camera. Yeah, the photos are murky and the film costs as much as some standalone cameras, but for decades, it was the most magical format in all of photography. Point and shoot, shake the photo for a few minutes, and you've got an instant memory preserved in silver and celluloid.

Digital photography has reduced film into a niche artistic endeavor, and even the cheapest of the cheap pocket digicams are incredibly convenient compared to the old way of doing things. But instant prints are still charming, and something that digicams — convenient as they are — don't offer.

Enter the Polaroid Instant Z340, available now at an MSRP of $299. It's a Polaroid instant camera for the digital age. Like its ancestors, it's a point-and-shoot camera crammed into a big, ugly brick of a printer. Warts and all, it exists because it can spit out a real photo in short order, but it doesn't give up any of the advantages of digital photography.

The Polaroid Z340 is the only camera right now that brings back the magic without giving up the advantages of a digital camera. That's enough to earn a hearty thumbs-up from us, but more importantly, the Z340 actually does its job pretty well. Photo quality is plenty clean and clear enough for the 4-inch by 3-inch prints that it makes, and the ink-free printer works well for a small, portable unit.

In its price range, the Z340 is the weakest camera that we've tested, but it's really a $100 camera attached to a $200 printer. It's a stronger performer than almost all of the cheap point-and-shoots out there, and the only cheap point-and-shoot that makes its own prints.

Whether any camera is worth $300 (plus $19.99 for every 30 sheets of ZINK paper) is really a matter of personal preference. We think that the Z340 worth the cost, even if it is really a novelty gadget. It's the ultimate party trick, spitting out instant party favors and putting a smile on everybody's face. The rest of the time, it's a serviceable digicam — slow and cumbersome, but not all that bad. Polaroid lives on.

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To read more about the Polaroid Instant Z340, read Reviewed.com's comprehensive review at DigitalCameraInfo.com. Reviewed.com is a division of USA TODAY.